Forgive and forget OR ELSE!!!!

[Indy Coug]

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/arc...for-her-rapist

[pellegrino]

that's pretty disgusting. I hope she exhausts every outlet she can to sound the word about the high school.

[Soccermom]

that's pretty disgusting. I hope she exhausts every outlet she can to sound the word about the high school.

It is outrageous. Those school officials should be shamed and ashamed.

[jay santos]

Wow. Unbelievable.

[pellegrino]

It is outrageous. Those school officials should be shamed and ashamed.

there should have been some discipline on the rapist. heads should roll for that alone.

[Jacob]

My FIL is the superintendent of a school district, his second distric, and he was a principal at a few schools prior to that. He often ends up with a lot of people that don't like him because he's the kind of guy that would make sure that kids like this rapist don't play on the basketball team if they ever get reinstated at school.

[Pheidippides]

As the CUF member who lives closest to Silsbee, I have half a mind to drive over and put the trick in trick or treat this weekend. Horrible. I'm going to check to see if the Houston paper has picked it up, and if not I'm going to encourage them to do so.

[thesaint258]

It's very, very sad how society seems to grow more and more accustomed to rape. Until someone close to you is actually raped, it's impossible to know how much harm it does to the victim and those around her. I admire the girl for accusing her rapist because not many do, and with an outcome as in this case, it's no wonder why they don't bother.

[Indy Coug]

It's very, very sad how society seems to grow more and more accustomed to rape. Until someone close to you is actually raped, it's impossible to know how much harm it does to the victim and those around her. I admire the girl for accusing her rapist because not many do, and with an outcome as in this case, it's no wonder why they don't bother.

[YOhio]

It's very, very sad how society seems to grow more and more accustomed to rape. Until someone close to you is actually raped, it's impossible to know how much harm it does to the victim and those around her. I admire the girl for accusing her rapist because not many do, and with an outcome as in this case, it's no wonder why they don't bother.

City Weekly had a devastating article about a serial rapist and the DA's office (initial) pathetic response to the victims.

http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/artic...s-of-rape.html

[Uncle Ted]

One of the starting players on our son's football team was just kicked off the team (permanently) for a misdemeanor marijuana possession but this kid is still playing after committing rape? Something is very wrong in Silsbee.

[UtahDan]

It sounds like the school should have been more sensitive and allowed her not to cheer. I think the rags calling the other kid a rapist should be very careful, however, since that is not what was alleged to have taken place. In fact, it sounds like this occurred at a party where everyone was intoxicated and interestingly the first grand jury after hearing three hours of evidence including victim testimony didn't indict anyone. Only after the victim's parents sued the prosecutor was a second grand jury empaneled and a second prosecutor did secure indictments. The defendant got a misdemeanor conviction and no jail which both the family and new prosecutor thought was fair. Just some additional context.

I don't think they should make her cheer for the guy, that seems like very bad judgment indeed. But it sure sounds like a lot more is in play here than what the headline suggests.

EDIT: I'll also just say for the billionth time, when something just doesn't make any sense at all that ought to be a clue that you've only heard one side of the story.

[TripletDaddy]

It sounds like the school should have been more sensitive and allowed her not to cheer. I think the rags calling the other kid a rapist should be very careful, however, since that is not what was alleged to have taken place. In fact, it sounds like this occurred at a party where everyone was intoxicated and interestingly the first grand jury after hearing three hours of evidence including victim testimony didn't indict anyone. Only after the victim's parents sued the prosecutor was a second grand jury empaneled and a second prosecutor did secure indictments. The defendant got a misdemeanor conviction and no jail which both the family and new prosecutor thought was fair. Just some additional context.

I don't think they should make her cheer for the guy, that seems like very bad judgment indeed. But it sure sounds like a lot more is in play here than what the headline suggests.

EDIT: I'll also just say for the billionth time, when something just doesn't make any sense at all that ought to be a clue that you've only heard one side of the story.

Also, what is your take on the free speech angle? It sounds like a poor strategy. Why would she be entitled to free speech as a cheerleader performing her responsibilities as a cheerleader?

[UtahDan]

Also, what is your take on the free speech angle? It sounds like a poor strategy. Why would she be entitled to free speech as a cheerleader performing her responsibilities as a cheerleader?

Yeah I didn't find the opinion on the case, but I did find a blog from (apparently) a lawyer who read it and said that he thought the court got it right even if the school system got it wrong. Apparently the analogy is that a salesman can bad mouth his company under the 1st amendment, but that doesn't mean he gets to keep his job.

I'm not sure what strategy you use here. Maybe the thought process was to articulate some claim and see if you can shame the school in to doing the right thing. If that was a bluff it got called, but since they appealed it, it doesn't sound like they were bluffing. What if to be on the cheer squad she had to cheer topless? Surely there would be a cause of action for that, but I would think it would be a USC (no not that one) 1989 action of some kind, not a first amendment issue. In any event, it seems to me that a political course would have been more affective than a legal one.

The other angle here I haven't mentioned, is why are the school officials exercising their discretion in this way? Whether they are right or wrong, doesn't that speak volumes about what they think about her accusations?

[Devildog]

I'll also just say for the billionth time, when something just doesn't make any sense at all that ought to be a clue that you've only heard one side of the story.

True.

The stakes are high in this story, and that brings the emotion up.